> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # McKillop brings plenty of intangibles to Merrimack boys basketball - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/mckillop-brings-plenty-intangibles-merrimack-boys-basketball/ - Published: 2016-12-30T16:00:21.000Z - Updated: 2016-12-30T16:00:21.000Z - Description: Tim Goodridge has coached boys basketball at Merrimack High School for the better part of two decades. The Tomahawks head coach has won championships with players who have gone on to play in college and he's had players win awards as the best in the division and the state. - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Division I, boys basketball, football, Merrimack, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 [](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/jmmernnbball122916-m10-1-e1483105379959.jpg?ref=nh-highschoolsports.com) Tim Goodridge has coached boys basketball at Merrimack High School for the better part of two decades. The Tomahawks head coach has won championships with players who have gone on to play in college and he's had players win awards as the best in the division and the state. But while Dan McKillop may not fall into that category of player when it comes to his basketball skills, the Merrimack senior holds a special place on the list of players Goodridge has coached. "I've been coaching 20 years, 14 or 15 at the varsity, and he's easily the nicest kid and the hardest worker," the coach said. "He's just a great kid. You want Danny McKillop on your team. "He's a great leader and the kids all love him. He's like the Energizer Bunny. Most kids, when you practice, they dog it a little bit. Not him, he gets after kids for not doing what they're supposed to be doing." When Kip Jackson took over the Merrimack football program two years ago, the overlap of students on both teams was so great that he met with Goodridge to discuss what he could expect in the fall of 2015. "He said he had a couple of basketball players who were on the football team," Jackson said. "He had one kid he loved and it was Dan McKillop, and he said I was going to love him, too. He was one of the kids that we wanted to make a cornerstone of the program when we started, and he lived up to it." McKillop started the last two years on defense for the Merrimack football team, and was recently named first-team defensive lineman on the USA Today All-USA New Hampshire football team. But calling McKillop, who also stepped in at tight end this year on offense, just a lineman doesn't do him justice, according to Jackson. "He's a kid who is under two hundred pounds, but he plays much bigger and much stronger than that," the coach said. "As you watch games from last season, against Pinkerton he played on the defensive line. The plays he made, I haven't seen other people make. "He's tackling ball carriers on the other side of the line of scrimmage on the opposite side of the field because he's so relentless. He's a technician. Then he played defensive back and outside linebacker against Concord. He's like a Swiss Army Knife on defense." At times, McKillop has been asked to do similar things for the basketball team, guarding players of different sizes and skill sets while providing the Tomahawks with laundry list of intangibles. "I think you saw in the first half (against Milford on Wednesday), we're up eight or 10 (points) and he's got two fouls," Goodridge said. "As a coach, I've got to make a decision. Do I leave him in and maybe he ends up getting his third, or do I say we need him at the end? I took him out and you saw all the energy we lost. "The other night against Spaulding, the kid was incredible. He had 15 points on hustle and desire. He just did it all." And doing while still going from football shape to basketball shape. "I think I worked harder for football," McKillop said of his preparation over the summer. "I wish I'd gotten some more shots up during the offseason for basketball, but football also helped me for basketball. The quickness, the explosiveness, those things can be translated from football to basketball." With the basketball season a few weeks along, McKillop has tried to focus not only getting better at the things he does well, but the areas that he feels he needs to improve. "I knew I had to be smarter with fouling and keep rebounding and playing defense if I want to stay on the court," he said. "I knew my offense would have to be a lot better this year. I could have worked harder, but you could always work harder." While he'd like to have another shot at playing football at the next level, McKillop's first goal is to get into the Air Force Academy. But if he ends up in Colorado, both coaches wouldn't be surprised if he found his way onto the football field. "He busts his tail at everything he does," Jackson said. "He's top five in his class. Every coach wants a kid like that, it doesn't matter what sport it is. He supports his teammates. He's just a great leader. First on the field and the last off." Goodridge doesn't know why McKillop wouldn't be able to walk on if he wanted to. "I'm not an expert, but the kid has the motivation and the work ethic and the desire," Goodridge said. "I saw him play this year and he was like a man against boys. I hope he gets into the Air Force Academy because they'll be getting an awesome person."